The UN is seeking $ 600 million to avert the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan

GENEVA, September 13 (Reuters) – UN convenes aid conference in Geneva on Monday to raise more than $ 600 million for Afghanistan, warning of humanitarian crisis after acquisition of the Taliban.

Even before the Taliban’s capture of Kabul last month, half the population (or 18 million people) depended on aid. That figure appears to be rising due to the drought and shortage of cash and food, UN officials and aid groups warn.

An abrupt end of billions of dollars in foreign donations following the collapse of the Western-backed government of Afghanistan, and the consequent victory of the Taliban has put more pressure on UN programs.

However, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says his organization is struggling financially: “Right now the UN is not even able to pay its salaries to its own workers,” he said Friday. in the press.

The Geneva conference, which will begin on Monday afternoon, will be attended by top United Nations officials, including Guterres, the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross Peter Maurer, as well as dozens of government representatives, including the German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas.

About a third of the $ 606 million requested would be used by the United Nations World Food Program, which found that 93% of the 1,600 Afghans surveyed in August and September did not consume enough food, especially because they could not access cash to pay for it.

“It is now a race against time and snow to offer life-saving assistance to the Afghan people who need it most,” said Anthea Webb, WFP’s regional deputy director. “We’re literally borrowing and borrowing to prevent food stocks from running out.”

The World Health Organization, another United Nations agency that is part of the appeal, seeks to strengthen hundreds of health facilities at risk of closure following donor withdrawal.

Emma Farge Reports; Edited by Pravin Char

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